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I am on the Glory in 7 days and have 2 fabulous formal dresses to wear for the 2 formal night. I am going solo and was wondering how the heck am I going to zip up the darned things. I have tried the dresses on about 5 times in the last few days trying to figure out a good way to do this on my own.

Some non-cruising friends at work suggested using dental floss and a hanger to zip up on my own. I tried it in every conceivable fashion, and no luck. Since these are floor length gowns, the zippers are long and the thing you grab to zip up is quite slim.

After about 30 minutes of stuggle (and feeling like I have dislocated my shoulders) I can get the thing right.

Okay, so now, dinner is over and I want to be more casual and visit a bar or the casino. GETTING THE DRESS UNZIPPED IS EVEN HARDER.

Do I ask the room steward (doesn't feel appropriate), or do I just labor until I get a method down? I even tried zipping the dress up before I put it on, but it does not slide over certain parts.

What have others done?

I know it sounds silly, but I am worrying about missing dinner because I need an hour for "zip time."

What about one of those long plastic shoe horns? There is usually a hole at the end and you could put a string through that then a safety pin which you would attach to the zipper. Then you could pull it "up" with the same motion you would use a back brush in the shower or "down" from the side.
There has to be a way.

I've seen other solo cruisers post that ask their room steward to zip them in. It must not be unusual to ask for help. Otherwise, make a lady friend in the cabin next door. Come that night....knock knock! HTH!

I have had this same problem. On Seabourn, each room has a stewardess. I've called the concierge on a couple of occasions and asked that one of the gals stop by my cabin just for a minute to zip me up! Seabourn can't serve you enough, and they happily help out in this area too.

If all else fails... put the t-shirt and shorts back on, take the dress to a public restroom, and put it on in there. Then you just have to wait for someone else to come in and you can ask her for some help! (just in case the zipper pull/dental floss/shoe horn combo fails you at the last minute!)

Well, if that little black dress was a shortie wet suit, I'd lend a hand.... Our wetsuits have long strings on the zippers to solve the problem posed, but even then an assist is better because zippers can get stuck. Best find someone to assist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by karen1225

Hi Guys,

I know it sounds silly, but I am worrying about missing dinner because I need an hour for "zip time."

I am on the Glory in 7 days and have 2 fabulous formal dresses to wear for the 2 formal night. I am going solo and was wondering how the heck am I going to zip up the darned things. I have tried the dresses on about 5 times in the last few days trying to figure out a good way to do this on my own.

Some non-cruising friends at work suggested using dental floss and a hanger to zip up on my own. I tried it in every conceivable fashion, and no luck. Since these are floor length gowns, the zippers are long and the thing you grab to zip up is quite slim.

After about 30 minutes of stuggle (and feeling like I have dislocated my shoulders) I can get the thing right.

Okay, so now, dinner is over and I want to be more casual and visit a bar or the casino. GETTING THE DRESS UNZIPPED IS EVEN HARDER.

Do I ask the room steward (doesn't feel appropriate), or do I just labor until I get a method down? I even tried zipping the dress up before I put it on, but it does not slide over certain parts.

What have others done?

I know it sounds silly, but I am worrying about missing dinner because I need an hour for "zip time."

Thanks

You must be back according to my math. What was the Grand Solution to the dilemma?

had this problem on caribbean princess march 07 ! paged cabin steward & no problem. ..once he understood what i wanted(his english a little bit less than fluent) dont let the small stuff overwhelm you before you even get started on solo cruise you will deal with stuff as it arises! besides -no one knows you so the "looking foolish" factor is nil! i find this to be the best thing-you can be yourself{or not) & really feel free to enjoy w/o the constraints of preconceived notions or fear of disapproval...go ahead dress to the nines & be that glam diva we all want to be!!

i had a cabin steward zip my dress as for who unzipped it... well... just kiddin! i was able to do it myself might have been a little more awkward asking that young lad to unzip it but i wouldnt have wanted to spend rest of cruise in a cocktail dress!! we do what we have to do in the name of fashion